


On the high seas of distant nebulas

by hikarufly



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-11
Updated: 2016-09-11
Packaged: 2018-08-14 10:58:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8011009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hikarufly/pseuds/hikarufly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Doctor and Clara land, as always, on the wrong place, but for once also at the wrong time. Or are they? <br/>Will they manage to find their original route and their TARDIS as they find themselves on a ship that looks like a British one sailing the 18th century Earth sea, but is in fact... in space?<br/>Let's find out... together (as it is a work in progress)!</p><p>English is not my first language!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Introduction

Someone knocked at the dark wooden door of the Captain's quarters. The officer was standing facing the window, his back to the threshold. His hands were joined behind him, and he was staring at the vast black void speckled with stars.

«Come in» he said, with a strong Scottish accent.

A young girl opened the door and, as soon as she got inside the room, she closed it behind her.

«Remind me why I do have to wear these clothes.» he asked.

«Because they make you look really sexy.» she ventured. He turned to her, with a raised eyebrow and an inquiring look. She giggled.

«If you could see your face...» she stated, getting closer.

«I hope it is menacing.» he declared. She looked at him, as to analyse his expression.

«It is surely grouch.» she explained, making his face disappointed and a bit outraged.

«What are you doing in my quarters, anyway? I am the Captain, don't you remember?» she declared, in a joyful rather than authoritative way. His smile became a smirk.

«You are the Captain only because, as many creatures on Earth, the littler you are the more you shout. And this kind of people, who are not certainly known for their brightness, thought you must have been the boss, for you shouted louder and with more intention than me.» he explained, trying to loosen the grip of his collar on his neck. The girl put her hands on her hips and frowned.

«I should punish you for your insolence. Plus, I am always the boss, Doctor. Not only on this ship.» she declared, smiling again after a moment, standing on her tiptoes to fix his cravat. This little gesture made him silent and a bit awkward: her fingers had caressed his skin.

«You haven't answered me, why are you here – Lieutenant?» Clara asked then, underlying that last word with her tone. She was dressed in the same fashion as him: a dark double breasted jacket with golden rims, a waistcoat and a white shirt under them, a white silk cravat at her neck, white breeches down to her knees and white stockings. She had a cocked hat under her left arm. She looked like she stole a 18th century British navy uniform from a London museum. The Doctor thought she looked less bossy and more adorable actually – not consciously of course. Not with any particular inclination. Or sentiment. Or intention. It was just a fact.

They were standing in a perfect replica of a British navy ship from the 1700s on Earth, but outside, there was only space, and no water at all.

The Doctor turned to the table in the desk a few feet from him and took his hat.

«The TARDIS key started to glow. We must be close.»

 

 


	2. To err is human, to arr is pirate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wrong time, wrong... space?

The Doctor got out of the TARDIS, expecting the green grass of a distant Human colony in space under his boots. What he stepped on, actually, was an sort of metallic component that looked like an arm. He stopped on the spot, and Clara bumped into him as soon as she tried to get out of the blue box, almost tripping backwards and falling, if the Doctor hadn't caught her with his arm, and secured her standing up, his hand gripping her back way lower than he usually did, as she leaned on him.

«Stowaways!» a rough voice exclaimed.

The Doctor and Clara were facing a little troop of what looked like 18th century sailors.

«I told you the coordinates weren't correct» said Clara «we must be somewhere on Earth, and a long time ago.»

«Earth?» asked someone behind the little crowd of sailors. An officer emerged from the corner of what seemed a lower deck of a ship. He looked suspiciously alien to them, as he approached: his skin was a shade of blue they could not name, and his eyes were dark.

«Earth has no such technology, where are you from?» he asked, looking at Clara.

The Doctor exchanged a glance with his companion. He had no time to answer though, as the officer recognized what the TARDIS was standing on.

«Captain!» he exclaimed, taking out a vintage looking pistol that, on a second look, was definitely not armed with bullets, but rays or lasers of some kind.

«Get out of the box with your hands in the air, now!» the officer ordered, and Clara and the Doctor obeyed immediately.

The sailors started to move the TARDIS and extract the remains under it. The Doctor and Clara noticed their pale blue skin, lighter than the officer's: at a first sight, it had seemed human-pink but it wasn't really. The officer continued to keep them at gunpoint. The sailors didn't peek inside the box, but stared, some with watery eyes, at the metal carcass of what was definitely a robot with a captain's uniform.

«You killed our Captain.» stated the officer.

«It was a accident!» said Clara. «We meant no harm, we were just... landing.» she explained. The Doctor looked at the broken robot too.

«Had he a consciousness?» asked the Time Lord. The officer seemed a little less hostile.

«The captains in our star-fleet are heartless strategists. That is why an organic officer is always put at his side.» he explained.

The sailors were looking at Clara with apprehension.

«A woman on board, sir. It is bad luck.» whispered what seemed the higher in rank, a steward.

The officer looked badly at him.

«No superstitious nonsense on my ship, man.» he sentenced, and the sailor shut his mouth.

«Look, we are really sorry for this, I wasn't even meant to be here. We could try and repair your Captain...» said the Doctor, but looking at the machine he figured out there was really little to do.

«What is your box?» asked the officer.

The Doctor was not really happy to answer to someone with a gun pointed at him.

«The true question is: why are aliens so technologically advanced so similar to 18th century British navy officers?» the Time Lord said.

The alien held his pistol more firmly.

«If you won't answer our questions we must find answers by ourselves.» he said, and ordered, with a gesture, one of his sailors to take Clara. She struggled at first, but the alien's grip was firm.

«Let her go.» the Doctor ordered, his rage starting to sparkle in his eyes.

«So, the girl is truly your associate. Maybe your lover.» stated the officer.

«Just let her go.» the Doctor continued «She's feisty, your subordinates are not safe.»

Clara was indeed fighting and it took three sailors to make her stop moving. Clara felt their bodies against hers in a very uncomfortable way.

«D-doctor...» she called, in a slightly more scared way now.

«Women might be bad luck, but we haven't seen ours in some time... yours seems really similar to ours so I cannot guarantee my sailors will be able to contain themselves.»

«I hope you don't call yourself a gentleman, sir.» hissed the Doctor, and with a sudden movement tried to disarm the alien. The sailors agitated for a moment, so Clara was able to free herself.

The Doctor had no such luck. The officer was strong and fast too, and was there to point his pistol at him, and fired.

The ray made a red, bleeding line on the Doctor's cheekbone. He, nevertheless, shielded Clara with his lean body.

«By the powers I was invested with by Albion II star-fleet, I hereby declare you guilty of the murder of our Captain and of trying to take charge of this vessel. The punishment is Death.» the alien declared. «Steward, take them. We will go to the plank.»

The Doctor and Clara were taken, their hands joined at their back and their wrists tied together. They were forced to walk down a wooden corridor with displays at certain ends and next to doors. The were definitely on a space ship but they could easily mistake everything for a 18th century British navy vessel. Was it a time-space fracture? A wibbly-wobbly... no, what a silly thing to think of. He needed to see the ship, to understand... and to avoid being thrown in the sea, or best: out in space. And he had to think quickly, unless...

Unless that red alert and sirens that just went off as he thought so could give him and Clara some more time.

 


End file.
